NBC’s Johnny Miller talked with the Post’s Justin Terranova about Tiger Woods’ much-anticipated return to the PGA Tour this week.

Q: Could Tiger Woods be better after the injury?

A: Dealing with the leg like he was, he ended up being a better iron player. He slowed down his swing, used a little more club, got a little more rhythm and smoothed it a lot more. I hope that carries over and, of course, he has the most amazing short game that anyone’s ever known. Phil (Mickelson) is pretty close, but I give the edge to Tiger. The driver is the big question mark. Who knows, maybe his driver will return to what it used to be. If that happens watch out.

Q: Is Woods the best player in the history of the sport?

A: I think he is the best that ever lived. People say what about Jack Nicklaus’ major record, but golf is more than just majors. Everyone is so enamored with the majors, they kind of forget about the rest of the season. But if you think about everything, then yeah, Tiger is the best – barely over Nicklaus.

Q: Padraig Harrington did step up and win both majors in Woods’ absence. Do you see him as the type of player that can challenge Woods for every major now?

A: Padraig is the kind of guy that dreamed of climbing Mount Everest and he climbed it. We might’ve seen the best out of Padraig. That happens all the time. You get a guy with a good two- or three-year run and things will fall into place and that’s pretty much it. It will be interesting to see if he can overcome that, but we might not see anything like that from him again.

Q: Some viewed this is a chance for Mickelson to step up. And except for his win last week at Riviera that really wasn’t the case. Were you surprised?

A: Phil was Phil. He’s not designed with his go-for- broke style of play to be consistent. The only reason why he has any consistency at all is because his chipping and putting are so phenomenal that he can take a round that should be 76 and keep it around 70 or 71. He goes for pins all the time and he’s a streak player.

Q: Can golf survive without Woods?

A: Golf is bigger than any one person. You have some great players out there – Camillo Villegas, Anthony Kim coming up, Mickelson’s still knocking it around good. Golf always seems to find a way, so I’m not going down that route.